Weller signs AHL deal in Manitoba.

Shawn Weller never saw time in an Anaheim Ducks uniform, but he played an important role in the organization last season.

The 24-year-old left wing, who had spent most of his first two pro seasons with the Ottawa Senators’ AHL team, accepted an assignment to the ECHL to begin last season, when the Ducks didn’t have their own AHL affiliate. Weller also took on the role of team captain with the Bakersfield Condors, scoring 18 goals and 46 points in 42 games.

On Monday, the Manitoba Moose announced they signed Weller to an AHL contract. The Ducks originally acquired the left wing from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Jason Bailey, their third-round pick in 2005. He finished last season in the AHL with the Abbotsford Heat.

Players on AHL contracts are eligible to play for any NHL team.

Ducks add minor-leaguer Trevor Smith.

Following through on his pledge to bolster the Ducks’ minor-league system, general manager Bob Murray signed center Trevor Smith to a one-year contract Friday. The 25-year-old is likely to start the season as a member of the Syracuse Crunch.

Smith, 25, appeared in a career-high 77 games last year with the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers. He notched 21 goals and 47 points with a plus-5 rating and 73 penalty minutes last season, ranking second on the team in goals, third in scoring and tied for third in assists. The 6-foot, 195-pound center also added three points and two PIM in five Calder Cup Playoff games. In seven NHL games, all with the New York Islanders, Smith has one goal and no assists.

The Ducks were down one veteran minor-leaguer when they decided not to qualify restricted free-agent forward Shawn Weller.

Ryan, Wisniewski, Mikkelson receive qualifying offers.

Soon-to-be restricted free agents Bobby Ryan, James Wisniewski and Brendan Mikkelson have received qualifying offers from the Ducks, while minor-league forwards Shawn Weller and Bobby Bolt have not. Neither has goaltender Jean-Phillippe Levasseur, with whom the Ducks are negotiating a long-term contract.

The deadline to for teams to extend qualifying offers is 2 p.m. (Pacific) today.

Ryan is almost certain to command an offer sheet July 1 if he has not already re-signed with the Ducks. General manager Bob Murray has attempted to re-sign Ryan with a five-year contract offer in the $20-25 million range, but the sides have yet to reach an agreement despite the fact that talks began early last season. The 23-year-old forward scored a career-high 35 goals in 2009-10, his second full NHL season.

In a season shortened to 69 games by injuries and suspensions, Wisniewski finished with three goals and 30 points. The hard-hitting defenseman nearly went to arbitration with the Ducks last year before signing a 1-year contract worth $2.75 million.

Mikkelson, who turned 23 last week, has split the last two seasons between the NHL and AHL, collecting four assists in 62 games with the Ducks.

If a qualified player receives an offer sheet from another team, the current team then has the right to match the offer sheet or will receive a combination of draft picks in return (see below, courtesy of TSN):

Below $863,156 No Compensation
$863,156-$1,307,812 Third-round pick
$1,307,812-$2,615,625 Second-round pick
$2,615,625-$3,923,437 First- and third-round picks
$3,923,437-$5,231,249 First-, second and third-round picks
$5,231,249-$6,539,062 Two first-rounders, a second-round
pick and a third-round pick.
$6,539,062 or more Four first-round picks

Sexton, Clark, Salcido shut out in Hamilton.

Consider this a belated, Ducks-related, American Hockey League playoff update.

Since the Ducks do not have an AHL affiliate this year, tracking their prospects’ postseason progress is a more haphazard endeavor than usual. Three (Dan Sexton, Brian Salcido and Mat Clark) are with the Manitoba Moose, who tonight lost Game 1 of their seven-game series against the Hamilton Bulldogs. Needless to say, each was held scoreless.

On Wednesday, defenseman Nathan Oystrick had two assists in the Chicago Wolves’ 6-5 win over the Milwaukee Admirals in Game 1 of their series. Shawn Weller, playing for the Abbotsford Heat, contributed the second of three goals in a 3-2 win over the Rochester Americans. Heat defenseman Mark Mitera was held scoreless.

The Ducks’ ECHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, begin play in the second round of the Kelly Cup playoffs tomorrow against the Stockton Thunder. Kyle Calder, MacGregor Sharp, Ryan Donally, Maxime Macenauer, Matt McCue, Eric Regan, Stu Bickel, Timo Pielmeier and J-P Levasseur are all competing in the series for Bakersfield.

Boynton to AHL, Beleskey up, etc.

Nick Boynton has been assigned to the American Hockey League’s Manitoba Moose, and Matt Beleskey has been recalled from ECHL Bakersfield. Boynton cleared waivers on Tuesday.

Presumably, this leaves the Ducks with six defensemen and 15 forwards for tonight’s game against the Detroit Red Wings at Honda Center.

Also, minor-leaguers Shawn Weller and and Mark Mitera have been reassigned from Bakersfield to Abbotsford (B.C.) of the AHL. Weller, a forward, was leading the Condors with 18 goals and 46 points and was the team captain. Mitera, a defenseman selected in the first round by the Ducks (19th overall) in 2006, had three goals and 13 points in 36 games.

Ducks connections in ECHL All-Star Game tonight.

Ducks minor-leaguers Shawn Weller, Eric Regan and Timo Pielmeier will be suiting up for the National Conference, as will A.J. Perry, the younger brother of Ducks forward Corey Perry, in the ECHL All-Star Game tonight in Ontario.

Weller, Regan and Pielmeier all play for the Ducks’ ECHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors. Perry plays for the Utah Grizzlies.

The Condors’ captain, Weller leads the team and ranks ninth in the ECHL with 42 points (16 goals, 26 assists). This is his first full season in the Ducks’ organization, and his first full professional season below the AHL, since being acquired in an off-season trade with the Ottawa Senators for prospect Jason Bailey. 

Weller was selected as a replacement for center MacGregor Sharp, who is currently playing for AHL San Antonio.

Regan is second among the Condors’ defensemen with nine goals and 19 points, and his five power-play goals rank second among ECHL blueliners. The 21-year-old spent last season, his first as a pro, with the Ducks’ former AHL affiliate, the Iowa Chops.

Pielmeier ranks 10th in the league with a 2.86 goals-against average and is tied for second with 16 wins. Acquired at last season’s trade deadline from San Jose in the deal that sent Kent Huskins and Travis Moen to the Sharks, Pielmeier is playing his first full professional season.

Perry, who went undrafted after a standout OHL career split between the London Knights and Belleville Bulls, split last season between San Antonio and the CHL’s Arizona Sundogs. He has 14 goals and 36 points in 33 games this season for the Grizzlies.

Also, in case you missed it, check out today’s story featuring Troy Bodie’s recollections of playing in the ECHL.